Allen & Page feeding advice for horses enjoying their later years
Allen & Page advise on how to keep veteran horses fit, well and a healthy weight all year round
FROM THE AGE of 15 we tend to start identifying a horse as a ‘veteran’, and while some will show their age, others are far from hanging up their bridle and settling into retirement. It’s increasingly common for horses to live well into their 20s and 30s, so it’s important that each horse’s nutritional needs are considered on an individual basis. Keeping horses active through their older years can be a great way to maintain all-round health and wellbeing. However, you do need to be careful if your horse is suffering from illness or unsoundness, so if you’re ever in doubt, check with your vet. When selecting the right feed for your veteran, bodyweight and workload should be taken into account – whether it’s a gentle stroll or competing regularly.
Weight watching
‘Good doer’ is a term many of us are familiar with when it comes to our horses, so it’s important to steer away from highcalorie feeds to avoid unwanted weight gain and strain on the joints. Choosing a low-calorie (8-9Mj/Kg) veteran feed, such as Allen & Page’s Veteran Light, will supply the benefits of a veteran feed without piling on the pounds. It’s not just the bucket feed we need to be keeping an eye on, though – forage should also be monitored and changed if needed. Changes can include strip-grazing or using a grazing muzzle to rein back the grass intake, or swapping haylage for hay and even soaking the hay before feeding. This is a great trick to take out some calories and even if you only have time to soak the hay for a short while it’s better than nothing. On the other hand, some of our veteran horses may suffer weight loss, especially during the winter months, and a highcalorie veteran feed, such as Veteran Vitality, may be beneficial instead. Veteran Vitality will supply a good energy level (11Mj/Kg) while providing a balanced diet when fed at recommended
amounts, just like all the feeds in Allen & Page’s Barley & Molasses Free range. Whatever your horse’s calorie requirements, look for a veteran feed that’s high in fibre and low in starch and low in sugar. A feed high in fibre will fulfil a horse’s natural requirements and aid a healthy digestive system. Feeds such as Fast Fibre, Veteran Light and Veteran Vitality all use fibre and oil sources to provide energy, instead of cereal grains. Cereal grains will increase the starch level of a feed and these higher levels have a reputation for causing fizzy, sharp and excitable behaviour in some horses, as well as being harder to digest, which can lead to bouts of colic and choke.
Making safe tweaks
We all experience aches and pains as we age and the same applies to our horses. This may mean a change of diet and management would prove helpful – but be prepared that, for some horses, their favourite food may now be off the menu. Change can seem daunting, but there’s always an option out there. For example, horses and ponies who suffer from laminitis should be closely monitored and fed a strict, low-sugar, low-starch diet. It’s advisable to provide a feed with a combined starch and sugar level of below 10%. Traditional veteran feeds generally provide starch and sugar levels over this guideline, but Veteran Light has a combined starch and sugar level of 8.5%, making it safe for those who suffer from or are prone to laminitis.
Keeping the fibre flowing
In the wild, horses would spend hours grazing on grasses, trees and bushes while covering approximately 5-12km per day. They survived purely on a high-fibre diet and even though the majority of horses are now domesticated, they should still have a diet that’s high in fibre, with grass, hay or haylage being constantly available. The fibre consumed by a horse fuels an internal heating system through hind gut fermentation, which helps to maintain good condition and a healthy digestion. The most common cause of weight loss in horses is a lack of fibre, and for veterans this is often a result of loose, missing or worn teeth making chewing difficult. Monitoring the number of droppings your horse passes each day is a good way of checking his forage consumption: fewer droppings will mean less hay eaten. You may also start to notice balls of hay being spat out on to the stable floor. This telltale sign is always worth looking out for in older horses, as it’s a key indication that dental problems are occurring. Even with the best of care and regular check-ups with an equine dental technician, this sign of ageing is inevitable and so it’s crucial to provide another source of fibre that’s easy for the horse to chew and digest to reduce the risk of weight loss, colic and choke. Fast Fibre from Allen & Page’s Barley & Molasses Free range is a high-fibre, soaked feed that can be fed as a partial or total forage replacer, offering a similar nutritional content to that of hay but in an easy-to-eat form.
Happy and hydrated
‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink’ is an accurate saying – and while we can’t make our horse drink, by providing a soaked feed, such as Fast Fibre and Veteran Light, we’ll not only make eating easier, but also ensure he’s still taking in water to aid hydration. This is crucial in winter when horses are renowned for drinking less. If your horse can be fussy, try using warm water instead of cold – you’ll be amazed at the stronger flavour it releases.